In a move certain to draw controversy, a Massachusetts gay rights group has posted the names of over 83,000 signers to an Arkansas anti-gay adoption and foster care petition.

KnowThyNeighbor.org says it's about responsibility.

“This is about responsibility and dialogue,” said Tom Lang, the group's director, in a statement. “These petition signers need to stand behind their signatures and be responsible for this dehumanizing attack on the gay community. It's disgraceful that they have chosen to exercise their prejudice at the expense of children who are now being denied access to loving adoptive and foster parents. Such activity must be challenged and cannot be allowed to pass under the cover of darkness.”

Act 1 was approved by 57% of voters on November 4, 2008. It outlaws unmarried couples from adopting or fostering children – single people, living alone, are free from the restriction. And while the law bans both gay and straight couples, it disproportionately impacts gay couples who cannot legally marry in the state. During the campaign, the law's sponsoring group, the Family Council Action Committee (FCAC), freely admitted it was targeting gays.

On its website, the FCAC listed three primary reasons for the law: For the safety of children, to increase the number of prospective homes, and to “blunt a homosexual agenda.”

The FCAC is the same Little Rock-based organization largely responsible for passage of a constitutional ban against gay marriage in Arkansas in 2004. The FCAC is partially funded by James Dobson's conservative ministry Focus on the Family Action.

KnowThyNeighbor.org has posted similar databases in the past. The group formed in 2005 as a response to a proposed anti-gay marriage amendment in Massachusetts, and posted the names and addresses of over 500,000 anti-gay petition signers.

The information listed is a matter of public record and was provided by the Arkansas Secretary of State's office.

FCAC Director Jerry Cox called the publication of petition signers “intimidation.”

“This is pure intimidation. Everyone who looks at this website can see this is an effort on the part of the radical gay organizations to intimidate citizens into not exercising their rights,” Cox told the Arkansas News.

Disclosure of donors to an anti-gay marriage campaign in California last year resulted in demonstrations, boycotts and even job losses.

Lang said he expects many petition signers will be confronted in a process he calls necessary.

“These conversations can be uncomfortable for both parties. The more that gays and lesbians talk about the importance of their relationships and their love for their children, the faster stereotypes break down and both sides begin to realize how much they have in common,” Lang, who is gay and married, said.

Gay men and lesbians are prohibited from adoption in Florida. Mississippi and Alabama – states that ban gay marriage – also limit adopting and fostering of children to married couples.

The Arkansas chapter of the ACLU has filed a lawsuit on behalf of families harmed by the law.